Cubs-Nationals rivalry has become theater of the absurd

Something odd usually happens when the Cubs and Nationals get together, making for some of the more fascinating games of the season.

It was evident in October during Game 5 of their Division Series encounter in Washington when Willson Contreras picked Jose Lobaton off first base in the eighth inning of the Cubs’ wild 9-8 victory. It was evident Friday afternoon in the series opener at Wrigley Field when Contreras picked Juan Soto off first in the eighth inning of another frenzied 3-2 Cubs win. And it was evident Saturday in Game 2 when Ryan Zimmerman drove in six runs off Jon Lester in the first four innings of the Nats’ 9-4 rout.

If history is any guide, something strange is bound to happen Sunday night in the series finale when Cole Hamels faces Nationals ace Max Scherzer in Hamels’ home debut and first start at Wrigley since throwing a no-hitter against the Cubs in 2015.

Since the start of the Joe Maddon era in 2015, the Cubs-Nationals rivalry has been must-see baseball, and fans are into every pitch.

“It’s Wrigley Field on a weekend, and we’re playing a great team,” Anthony Rizzo said after Friday’s win. “The intensity is usually always up with the Nationals here.”

It’s theater of the absurd, served with some delicious digs from managers, owners, players and analysts. Maddon noted the games are always “neck and neck,” whether it’s during the season or in their sole playoff encounter.

“We battled them again, and I anticipate, what, six more games with them?” he said. “I think they’re going to be very similar.”

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Cubs had won 13 of the 23 regular-season games since ’15 while being outscored 98-90 and beat the Nationals 3-2 in the NLDS despite being outscored 20-17.

The rivalry began to heat up in May 2016 when the Cubs walked Bryce Harper 12 times during a four-game sweep, taking the bat out of his hand and frequently forcing Zimmerman to step up. The strategy worked, especially in the Sunday finale when Harper walked six times — three intentionally.

While manager Dusty Baker sniffed “some teams aren’t running from Bryce,” Maddon countered it was all about lineup construction.

“It had nothing to do with competing or not competing,” he said. “I have to look out for the best interests of us first. I'll never look out for what's in the best interest of the Washington Senators-slash-Nationals.”

Throwing shade at the Nationals was starting to become a habit. During the team’s visit to the White House in June 2017, Cubs board member Todd Ricketts told President Donald Trump the Cubs would meet the Nationals in the playoffs.

“You'll see them crumble,” Ricketts said.

"Probably will,” Trump replied.

Of course the two met again in October, just as Ricketts had predicted, and the insanity continued.

With the series tied 1-1, Scherzer carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Game 3 before giving up his first hit with one out, and then was removed. Scherzer said he agreed with Baker’s decision, noting he was “just juiced out of my mind with adrenaline."

The Cubs won on Rizzo’s bloop RBI single in the eighth after Baker declined to walk him with first base open, prompting Rizzo to scream from second base: “Respect me, respect me.”

When Stephen Strasburg begged out of starting Game 4 because of illness, ESPN analyst David Ross, the lovable “Grandpa” to Cubs fans, ripped the Nationals pitcher for not sucking it up for the big game: “You want to know why the Washington Nationals can't get over the hump? That tells me a lot about him. I don't know about that clubhouse, but that tells me a lot about him if these reports are true. … If I'm his teammate and I walk in the clubhouse the next day, I can't make eye contact with this dude. This is as bad as it gets for me as a teammate."

A-Rod would’ve been proud. As it turned out, Strasburg started and shut down the Cubs, leading to the Game 5 in Washington that had a little bit of everything.

“That’s the only clinching game I’m never going to watch a single highlight of,” Cubs President Theo Epstein said afterward. “I’m never going to watch a video of it. I don’t even think it really happened.”

In the end, Ricketts was prescient: The Nats had crumbled.

Now we’re in Year 4 of the Maddon vs. Nats saga, with Dave Martinez moving to the opposite dugout to match wits against his longtime friend and boss. Harper finally is in his walk year, the Nationals are struggling to get to the postseason and the Cubs are hanging on at the top of the National League Central.

With Jeremy Hellickson taking a no-hitter in the sixth inning Friday, Rizzo’s 13-pitch at-bat led to a walk that ignited a two-run rally in the Cubs’ comeback win. A crowd of 41,531 increased the volume on every foul ball off Rizzo’s bat.

“It makes your hair stick up a little bit,” Rizzo said.

When Contreras picked Soto off first in the eighth, he pumped his fist and punctuated the moment by screaming an obscenity. Your hair stuck back up a little more.